Haunted by the 1999 movie Boys Don’t Cry, Andrews promises himself to do everything he can to help transgender teens and to educate others. Two years later, Katie goes off to college and devastates Andrews by cheating on him. An intense romance with Katie Hill, a fellow Oklahoman transgender teen, attracts international media attention. Andrews realistically traces his mother’s journey from fury to reluctant acceptance to full support, finally achieved when a family therapist describes the Native American tradition of “two-spirit” people, incredibly wise healers Transgender “assembly” for Andrews has so far included testosterone treatment and “top surgery.” The book provides practical information on gender transitioning, directing readers to web sources for more details. His Christian school expels Andrews after he questions its unbending condemnations of homosexuality.
At thirteen, friendship with a fellow dance student who identifies first as bisexual, then as lesbian, leads to neighborhood gossip, and his mother’s fury. While his mother pins bows in his hair and enters him in child beauty pageants, Andrews winces at the “painted harlequin” he sees in the mirror. But in easy, conversational style, Andrews recounts his persistent childhood discomfort with girlish pink accessories and his preference for being a tomboy. (Sept.The pictures that open the early chapters show a friendly, pretty girl smiling open-heartedly at the camera. This is a brave book that handles complicated and sensitive topics honestly and, at times, with humor. I can’t lose you.” Around the same time Arin gets a prosthetic penis, starts taking testosterone shots, meets Katie, and realizes, “I’d never felt love this pure or strong before.” Together, they become a media sensation dubbed “America’s First Teen Trans Couple!” Arin is remarkably frank about all aspects of his transition and keeps a casual, conversational tone while discussing everything from surgical options to inner anxieties. Like Katie Hill (whose Rethinking Normal was acquired simultaneously with this book), Arin gets help from an initially reluctant mother, who, scared by his suicide attempt, decides, “I will support you.
Arin first thinks he is gay, but things click when he discovers online what it means to be transsexual. As puberty progresses, Arin wears black sports bras to minimize his chest and feels “betrayed” when his period starts. Born Emerald, Arin remembers trying on his male cousin’s clothes in fourth grade, as well as crafting a “homemade funnel” to urinate standing up.
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